Biola Unlocks Educational Vault, Offering Hundreds of Free Resources

LA MIRADA, Calif., Aug. 21, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ — Biola University today announced the launch of Open Biola, an innovative website that offers open access to hundreds of classes, lectures, articles and other educational resources — all for free.

The easy-to-navigate site — found at open.biola.edu — allows visitors to search, stream, download and share videos and other learning materials that engage a wide range of academic topics from a Christian perspective. Open Biola is believed to be the first such open learning website from a Christian university. As of its launch, Open Biola has 1,317 individual resources from 432 different Biola professors and guest contributors, including more than 829 hours of video and audio. More resources will be added continually throughout the year.

“Open Biola represents Biola’s commitment to make our most beneficial educational resources widely available to anyone who has access to a computer or a mobile device,” said Biola President Barry H. Corey. “As a source of thoughtful Christian perspectives on topics ranging from business and science to philosophy and theology, it is our hope that Open Biola will serve the needs of Christian and secular audiences around the world by helping to articulate and foster a biblically centered worldview.”

Open Biola complements Biola’s presence on other content delivery destinations such as iTunes U and YouTube, where the university will continue to offer hundreds of free resources. (Biola is one of 42 “featured providers” on iTunes U and one of the 100 most viewed university channels on YouTube.) Open Biola includes several distinct features to enhance visitors’ experiences and simplify access to content. Specifically, visitors can:

Browse content by topic, author, collection or academic department

Download or stream content in the format of their choice — including HD video, standard video or audio

Comment on and discuss content with others

Share content via social media, including Facebook, Twitter and Google+

Explore author profiles, which link to each author’s videos, publications and biography

Experience an optimized site design for their device, whether desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone

With the launch of Open Biola, Biola University joins other universities such as MIT and Yale that have created websites to offer free educational resources and course materials to the public.

About Biola University
Biola University, named one of 17 “up and coming” national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2011, is a private Christian university located in Southern California. For more than 100 years, Biola has remained committed to its mission of biblically centered education, integrating biblical principles with every academic program. With a current record-high enrollment of 6,250 students, the university’s six schools offer 145 academic programs, ranging from the B.A. to the Ph.D. Biola was recently named one of 103 of the nation’s Great Colleges to Work For by the Chronicle of Higher Education. For more information, visit www.biola.edu.